What shows or projects have you done with ETT?
Othello directed by Richard Twyman
Finish the sentence: Touring is important because…
It allows shows to gauge their meaning to audiences outside of the London theatre microcosm.
Where is home for you?
Hackney
Where is your home away from home?
Los Angeles
How did you bring home with you on tour?
My laptop
Which city was your favourite to visit on tour with ETT?
Shanghai
What gem did you discover on tour with ETT?
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
What are your touring essentials?
laptop. guitar. kindle
Touring is important because it allows shows to gauge their meaning to audiences outside of the London theatre microcosm.
When on tour, you end up finding your bearings with your company mates on stage. It becomes the familiar, the safe space, the closest thing to home you’ll experience throughout the tour. Performances and relationships grow at blistering pace in that context.
What’s your go-to recipe whilst on tour?
Stir-fry
Which artist(s) do you most admire and why?
Wajdi Mouawad. His ability to weave poetry into relevant societal matter and elevate it to universal human experience.
What music inspires you?
Poliça
What image or video inspires you?
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
What piece of writing or quote inspires you?
Truth like love and sleep resents approaches that are too intense. W.H. Auden.
What, for you, makes a good piece of art?
Its universal relevance to the human experience.
What have been your career highlights so far?
Opening night of Othello in Dubai. I had just left A&E, minutes before beginners, and found myself on stage with almost the entire cast, acting to an Elizabethan-like audience cheering throughout one of the scene. Is there a better way to feel that we’re on this ride together? Goosebumps!
If you were cast away on a desert island, which 5 plays would you take with you and why?
Hamlet, Othello, Incendies, Tartuffe, Translations
Please can you tell us what you would say to emerging artists to encourage them to take their work on the road or join an ETT tour?
When on tour, you end up finding your bearings with your company mates on stage. It becomes the familiar, the safe space, the closest thing to home you’ll experience throughout the tour. Performances and relationships grow at blistering pace in that context.
Window or aisle seat?
Emergency Exit.
Favourite way to travel?
Train.
If you could have any superpower, which would you choose?
Wolverine-like healing powers.
Our industry is currently experiencing an incredibly challenging time. Do you have any recommendations for others of how to stay hopeful and creative during this time?
I’m not sure I can offer recommendations other than share the way I’ve personally been dealing with “these interesting times”. Writing has been my refuge. It’s allowed me to escape and, at the same time, anchor myself in the present, the way the best kind of meditation would. It’s created a buffer between me and that anxiety that’s overgrown, following the uncharted path we’ve been thrown on. ve been thrown on.
Writing has been my refuge. It’s allowed me to escape and, at the same time, anchor myself in the present, the way the best kind of meditation would.
Naby Dakhli’s biog:
Naby Dakhli Montano Naby is an actor based in London and Los Angeles.
Theatre credits include: Falsestuff (Theatre Nacional de Catalunya, directed by Nao Albet & Marcel Borras). Othello will be Naby’s British stage debut.
Film credits include: Gemini (Syncopated Films) and Traces of Sandalwood (Pontas Films). Naby has also filmed numerous short films, including most recently L’etranger (Rawmantik Pictures).
He has just finished filming brand new Netflix series, Messiah alongside Michelle Monaghan and Mehdi Dehbi.
